†INDIA v NEW ZEALAND 1984-85

At Sydney, March 5 (day/night). India won by seven wickets with 6.3 overs to spare. Put in by Gavaskar on a very slow pitch, New Zealand, who lost Wright to the third ball of the match, made no concerted effort to take the initiative until Cairns and Smith came together at 151 for seven in the 43rd over. When Snedden was out to the last ball of the innings, New Zealand became the fourth successive side India had bowled out in the competition. Needing 207 to win India were so pinned down for a while that after 20 overs they were only 46 for one. Howarth then took off Snedden after he had bowled five overs for only 7 runs, whereupon India gradually took control, Kapil Dev eventually sharing a brilliant partnership with Vengsarkar. The decisive over was the 34th, in which Kapil hit Hadlee for four blistering 4s and survived a hard, low chance to mid-off.

Man of the Match: R. J. Shastri. Attendance: 16,612.